Robert Stockton Green Was Elected NJ's Governor...

...six days before James Titus was sentenced to die.

Don't believe me? Read all about it.

He was on the committee of pardons¹ that reduced his sentence in March, too!
This is fascinating stuff. It really is.

¹Sullivan 114

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Wouldn't it be nice if this page got more fans than the Draft Betty White phenomenon?

Good Question

"Is it reasonable to suppose that an intelligent and hitherto law-abiding man with an unblemished record, highly regarded in his community, completely trusted by his employer, a man without even a single complaint against him in 11 years of employment around female students and staff, can become a reckless, murderous rapist wihtout warning, virtually overnight?"

Denis Sullivan, In Defence of Her Honor: The Tillie Smith Murder Case. Page 125

Susan Meyer Wants to Clear Something Up

Greetings Friends:

Susan Meyer, the Governor's Counsel's Official in charge of Executive Clemency told me that they don't have a "No Posthumous Pardons" policy in Trenton. She made it clear to me that they just don't have a policy for Posthumous Pardons yet. It has never been done before. No one has ever applied for a posthumous pardon, so they have to develop a way to do it.

I hope that is clear. She has been extremely helpful, and nice and generous with her time.

With the new governor in office, they haven't gotten around to it yet. She asked me (and all of you) to be patient.

I don't want anyone to think that I have hostile feelings for her because they don't give out posthumous pardons.

Don't get me wrong, I still want people to write to the Governor to tell him why he should develop a policy to give James Titus a posthumous pardon. I jus tdon't want people to call them up and be unnecessarily difficult. They're adults, they can take it with a grain of salt, but they don't deserve it.

Thanks everyone.

Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

More info: http://www.nj.gov/governor/

It's Up To You Now

Okay, folks, I have sent in the Application for Executive Clemency. I followed Susan Meyer's instructions. She is the director of the Executive Clemency Division in the Governor's Counsel's Office. When I called Carinne Rivers, the director of the Executive Clemency Division at the State Parole Board, she said she wanted to send them back to me because the policy of "no posthumous pardons" is still in effect.

Luckily, I was able to reach Susan Meyer, who instructed Ms. Rivers to keep the application on file until the policy can be changed at a later date.

So now all we need to do is change the policy!

Easier said than done, right?

That is why we need you. Please, call the Governor's office - 609-292-6000 - ask Susan Meyer to change the policy. New Jersey should grant pardons to anyone, whether they are living or dead, if there is evidence of innocence, or reasonable doubt or unfair prosecution or any other legitimate reason for a pardon.

That is how offices like that work. They need feedback from the public showing support for any action they want to take.

Do some research on your own. Tell them why they should Free James Titus!

Encourage others to do the same. Please.

Promote the Free James Titus Movement on Delicious, or StumbleUpon or Digg. Write a letter to the editor. Post flyers in every Quick Chek in the state! Do something.

It's up to you.

Warm Regards,


Erik B. Anderson
Independence Township, New Jersey
Established 1782

"[N]ot one word of real evidence."

Hackettstown Gazette, May 7 1886

It is true the air is full of theories and suspicions, and the reporters of the metropolitan papers have woven an ingenious network of circumstantial evidence around James Titus and have manufactured public opinion so fast that the belief has settled into a positive conviction in the minds of a majority of our citizens that the right man has been found. ... [N]ot one word of real evidence has been adduced to convict him of this crime...we think it would be just as well to hold off condemnation of this man until something is shown connecting him directly with [it]...3

 The indictment of James J. Titus was also written on May 7, 1886:

...hat James J. Titus, of the Town of Hackettstown, in the said County of Warren, on the 8th day of April, in the year of our Lord  1886, at the town aforesaid, and within the jurisdiction of this Court, in and upon one Matilda Smith, then and there feloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought, did kill and murder, contrary to the form and statute in such case made and provided, and against the peace of this State, the government and the dignity of the same.

...the said James J. Titus, on the 8th day of April, in the year aforesaid [1886], in said county and within the jurisdiction aforesaid, in and upone one Matilda Smith, in the peace of God and this State then and there being, did commit, rape and in attempting to commit rape, and in committing rape in and upon her, the said Matilda Smith, did kill the said Matilda Smith contrary to th eform of the statute in such case made and provided, against the peace of this State the government and dignity of the same.

...that the said James J. Titus, on the eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-six, at the town and country aforesaid, and within the jurisdiction of this Court, with force and arms in and upon the said Matilda Smith, in the peace of God and of this State then and there being, feloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought did make an assault, and that he, the said James J. Titus, on and about the neck and throat of the said Matilda Smith did then and there foloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought fix, fasten and grasp with his hands, and that the said James J. Titus with his hands aforesaid, her the said Matilda Smith then and there feloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought, did choke, suffocate and strangle, of which said choking, suffocating and strangling she, the said Matilda Smith, then and there instantly died; and so the Inquest aforesaid, on their oaths aforesaid, do say that the said James J. Titus, in manner and form aforesaid, feloniously, willfully and of his malice aforethought, her the said Matilda Smith, did kill and murder contrary to the statute in such case made and provided and against the peace of this State, the government and dignity of the same...²

But Tillie Smith didn't die on April 8th, 1886. According to her death certificate, she died between on April 8th between 10:15 and 10:30 p.m..<sup>3

1</sup> Sullivan, Denis. In Defence of Her Honor: The Tillie Smith Murder Case. Flemington, NJ: D.H. Moreau Books, 2000. p135
²Ibid. p46
³Ibid. p47

123 Years Ago Today - Titus Was Sentenced To Die

My counsel have said in my defense all that can be said. But I wish to make one or two remarks for myself. I have to express my regret that upon my trial I was unfitted both mentally and physically to be a witness in my own behalf. I am of a low and despondent turn of mind at all times and this feeling coupled with the close confinement to which I was subjected entirely broke me down both in mind and body.

Since my trial, owing to the kind and gracious treatment of the sheriff allowing me freely to walk out in the corridor of the jail, I have been much improved in mind and body. And now I wish here to protest, before this court and before the world, against the conduct of the jury that tried me.

They tried me in my absence and falsely convicted me of a crime of which I declare here and now in the presence of this court and my countrymen who now hear me that I am not guilty.

And I most humbly ask the court to spare my feelings by sentencing me in as few words as possible, as nothing the court can say about the crime of which I am convicted can apply to me, as I solemnly repeat that I am not guilty of it.

These are all the remarks that I desire to make. I am now ready to hear the judgment of the Court.

James Titus
Warren County Courthouse
Belvidere, New Jersey
January 24, 1887

Source: NY Times: "...a more disagreeable day one can hardly imagine..."